Loneliness links Adverse Childhood Experiences to Mortality Risk across 26 years.

IF 4.8 2区医学 Q1 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY

Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Pub Date : 2025-02-20 DOI:10.1093/geronb/gbaf016

Aisling Curtis, Emma Kirwan, Martina Luchetti, Ann-Marie Creaven, Nicholas Turiano, Máire McGeehan, Eileen K Graham, Páraic S O'Súilleabháin

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are associated with increased mortality risk. Individuals with a history of certain adversity during childhood tend to report higher levels of loneliness in later life. In our pre-registered study, we examined whether loneliness mediates the ACEs to mortality risk relation.

Methods: Participants were from the Midlife in the United States Survey (N = 4963; M [SD] 46.44 [12.52] years, 53.3% female). Follow-up period spanned 26 years. A comprehensive measure of ACEs was employed consisting of 20 ACEs from five categories: physical abuse, emotional abuse, socioeconomic disadvantage, adverse family structure, and poor health at age 16 years.

Results: ACEs was a significant predictor of mortality risk. Loneliness mediated the ACEs-mortality risk relation. In other words, loneliness in adulthood accounted for the relation between ACEs and future death. These effects withstood a range of sensitivity checks and adjustments for important factors, such as social isolation.

Discussion: Loneliness appears to be a central mechanism in the long-term impact of ACEs on longevity, such that, for adversity during childhood, loneliness experienced during adulthood may be a toxic pathway to future death.

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来源期刊

Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 医学-老年医学

CiteScore

11.60

自引率

8.10%

发文量

178

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences publishes articles on development in adulthood and old age that advance the psychological science of aging processes and outcomes. Articles have clear implications for theoretical or methodological innovation in the psychology of aging or contribute significantly to the empirical understanding of psychological processes and aging. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, attitudes, clinical applications, cognition, education, emotion, health, human factors, interpersonal relations, neuropsychology, perception, personality, physiological psychology, social psychology, and sensation.